There are reports of wood ticks being picked up on people here in the Nicola Valley. People that have dogs may want to check themselves and children for the creature. Wood ticks can be responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. If you find one be careful not to pull on it as it is said to break its head off if its stared to burrow in flesh and the head may keep going. That’s according to home remedies and they include a method of heating a sewing needle on an element to cause it to back out.

Dermacentor andersoni, commonly known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick, is a species of tick.[1]

It can cause tick paralysis.

Diagnostic features: Larva only has 3 pairs of legs. Nymph has 4 pairs. Single pair of spiracular openings (stigmata) close to the coxae (leg bases or segments) of the 4th pair of legs (except in larvae) Terminal capitulum (mouthparts) visible from above in all stages except the egg, of course. A large sclerite called the Scutum present dorsally behind the capitulum. The scutum almost entirely covers the back of the male, but only partly covers the back of the female. Eyes, if present, are on the scutum. Sexual dimorphism in size and colour is frequent. The female is often larger. Posterior margin of opisthosoma usually sub-divided into sclerites callel festoons. Pedipalps rigid along the chelicerae, not leg-like. Single pair of spiracular openings (stigmata)

The bug can also carry the bacteria for Lyme disease and Tularemia. Spring is the time here to watch for them.